Incomplete
by nila.nithila
Summary: "Echizen, your arm won't heal completely. You… won't be able to play tennis anymore."
1. Chapter 1

Author's sister's Note: Okay, this is another story that my sister came up with. It's her first attempt at angst. Anyway, standard disclaimers do apply... And please review, it makes her really happy.

* * *

"Oi, Echizen!"

Echizen turned around to see Momoshiro running towards him. Once he (Momo) caught up, he asked "Do you want to have burgers with me after school today?"

Echizen nodded. "Senpai's treat," he stated. Without waiting for an answer, he walked towards his class-room, completely ignoring Momo's protesting voice.

After entering his class-room, walking towards his desk, and doing other things in order to sit down in his seat, Echizen sighed. Practice had been hard that to Inui, of course. And maybe Tezuka, too. He shivered thinking about what had happened to Kaidoh-senpai once he drank the 'Super-Duper-Extra-Special-New-and-Improved-Inui-Juice-Deluxe'. It was partly his fault that Kaidoh-senpai had to drink it in the first place, because said senpai had lost to him, but it wasn't like he was going to lose and drink it himself just to save Kaidoh, anyway.

"Oi, Echizen!"

_Again? _Who was it this time? He looked up to see Horio looking down at him.

"I was watching your match against Kaidoh-senpai today," Horio announced at the top of his voice. "If you hadn't hit that smash right after-" Echizen tuned him out. It wasn't really worth listening to him, anyway.

Fuji Syuusuke was worried. In fact, he was very worried. In fact, he was extremely worried. In fact, he was-you get the idea.

Anyway, Fuji Syuusuke was this worried because of a prediction. This prediction clearly stated that something very bad was going to happen. _And _said prediction was made by Fuji's never-wrong sister.

_~Flashback~_

"I'm leaving!" Fuji called out as he opened the front door, smile still stuck on his face.

"Syuusuke! Wait!" Yumiko ran down the stairs and towards the door.

Fuji turned and looked at her. His smile faded and eyes opened once he saw the look on her face. "What is it, nee-san?"

"Syuusuke, be careful,"

"Huh? What?" Fuji looked at his sister, eyes full of confusion. What had happened?

"Something very bad is going to happen to one of your friends today. I'm not quite sure when. But _be careful,_ Syuusuke."

Fuji's eyes widened. His sister was very serious."Yes, nee-san."

_~End of Flashback~_

"Hey, Echizen, are you ready?"

Echizen looked up from his carefully half-tied shoe, his eyes clearly saying, 'Do you _think_ I'm ready? I'm tying my shoe!' He then looked down again to complete his highly important task.

Momo blinked. Twice.

"Hoi, hoi, Ochibi, Momo-chan! Where are you going, nya?" Kikumaru shouted, jumping into view.

"Oh Eiji-senpai! We're going to the Burger Place!" Momo replied.

"I want to come too!" Eiji said, bouncing on his heels slightly and rubbing his hands together.

Momo and Echizen exchanged an evil look with each other. Then, at the exact same moment,

"Senpai's Treat!"

"Nyaaa!" Kikumaru took a small step back, shock evident on his face."You can't _mean_ that! Both of you ate so much last time! My wallet will be _empty_, nya!" he waved his hands around for emphasis. Momoshiro and Echizen simply continued grinning evilly. Kikumaru accepted defeat and the trio finallymade their way to the Burger Place.

Echizen, being Echizen, barely spoke at all during the walk. That is, until…

"Ochibi! What are you going to do when you grow up?"

Echizen looked at his senpai, trying to figure out the reason for the sudden question about his future. Finally, deciding that it was just one of his random questions, he said, "I'm not sure, senpai. I'll probably be a tennis pro or something. It's the only thing I can do, anyway."

"Are you sure, nya? You could do something else at the same time… What other stuff are you good at?" Kikumaru didn't bother to wait for an answer. Even if he did, it wasn't as if Echizen was going to say anything. "You're good at English, nya! You could be an English Professor like Niyaharu-sensei!"

Echizen merely shook his head, looking bored.

" Nyaaa…" Kikumaru frowned, upset that his brilliant idea wasn't being taken into consideration."Then how about…"

"Hey!" Momoshiro cut him off. "We're here!"

"Yay!" Kikumaru cheered and literally dragged the other two inside.

Fuji was currently accompanying Oishi to his house. He chose Oishi because Tezuka had to attend a student council meeting,Taka-san left early(before practice),Inui's dad picked him up after practice,and Kaidoh ran away the minute they were dismissed. So, naturally, he chose the only other person he could see: Oishi.

"Well this is my house," Oishi said, stopping in front of a two story building. He stepped up the one or two steps leading to his house and was about to open the door when he realized that Fuji was still standing a few feet away from the door. "Aren't you coming in, Fuji?" He looked slightly confused.

Fuji smiled. "Saa, maybe another day…" he trailed off. He was a bit confused, too. Nothing bad had happened. All of a sudden, he remembered something. "Oishi, have you seen Eiji, Momo, or Echizen?"

"Hmm… I think Eiji was yelling something about going to… where was it? Oh, of course, the three of them went to the Burger Place! Eiji was…Fuji?"

Fuji's eyes had snapped open. He turned around and began to run. Really, how could he have forgotten them? Images of the the hyper and bouncy Kikumaru to the arrogant and cocky Echizen to the loud and noisy Momoshiro flashed through his head. 'My sister must have been talking about one of them…' Panic and fear flowed through his veins, almost over-powering him. 'They won't _die_, will they?' The fear became so intense, he would have run away from himself if he could. Anything to stop this feeling… He remembered sitting next to Eiji during class…celebrating their victories at Kawamura's sushi restaurant…watching Momoshiro and Kaidoh fight…and then he thought of the unfinished match in the rain that might forever be unfinished…

'NO!' Fuji unconciously increased his speed. "I have to think positively…they'll only get a small bump or scratch or bruise…' Fuji began building a small wall of hope as he ran. He thought of his sister's eyes when she made the prediction…It didn't look like it wouldn't be serious… 'No,no,NO! Nothing bad will happen… It's gonna be a minor injury, a minor injury, nothing worse than that…'

He had almost reached the Burger Place… almost there… almost there… he just had to turn the corner… he could here the trio's voices as they came out of the restaurant…their voices were joined by a lot of others a few seconds later…and then he heard a man shout loudly… he was almost there…

A car screeched and, a split second later, a person screamed.

As Fuji turned the corner, he felt his insides being sucked out. His wall of hope crumbled.

It had happened.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Please Review.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I'm really sorry I didn't update sooner! Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

Tenisu no Ojou-sama Kagome

Donatello8696

Kyuuketsuki Ojousama

Amy-sama90

animegleek

Thankyou so much!

* * *

The Seigaku regulars were all waiting in the hospital.

Eiji was crying on Fuji's shoulder, his muffled sobs being the only noise in the room. Fuji, eyes open, but not really seeing anything, had an arm around Eiji, trying to comfort him. The remaining regulars were all leaning against walls, eyes staring into the distance. They all heard footsteps coming from the doorway, and turned around just as Oishi came inside, stuffing his cell-phone into his pocket.

"Ruuzaki sensei's calling his parents," he said quietly.

Tezuka and Taka nodded. No one else spoke.

_~Flashback~_

"Geez, Ochibi, Momo-chan, I was right, nya!" Kikumaru said mournfully, putting his wallet back in his pocket. "You two eat a LOT!"

'Those two' grinned. Then, hearing loud voices behind them, they turned around to see a man running away from a large group of people. As the man came closer, he screamed, "MOVE IT, KID!" Before any of them could react, though, the man shoved Echizen right off the sidewalk, sending him stumbling into the road.

Right in front of a speeding car.

Without having time to move, Echizen just stood, there, his eyes wide and full of horror. Terror.

The car made contact.

Echizen flew a few feet forward, landing in front of the same car, his mouth open as if to scream. No sound came out.

The car neared again, showing no signs of stopping.

It rode over him.

Kikumaru screamed.

_~End of Flashback~_

The door opened and everyone looked up to see the doctor with a serious look on his face.

"You are here for Echizen Ryoma?"

A few people nodded. The rest remained silent, unmoving, both eager to know as well as dreading what might come next.

"He's a left-hander, yes?"

Tezuka nodded.

"And he plays tennis?"

"Yes, he does," Tezuka replied once again. Everyone was starting to get impatient.

"Well, he was very lucky he escaped. He has some rather nasty bruises, but they'll mend themselves in good time." You could practically _see _the relief spread out on the regulars' faces.

"But-" the doctor hesitated. Everyone tensed up once again. "His left arm… it's completely crushed. I'm sorry, but I don't think he'll ever be able to play tennis again."

* * *

Momoshiro still hadn't understood what was happening. His brain was moving much too slowly for that. He remembered seeing Echizen in the middle of the road, covered in blood, and he had heard the doctor's words, but he still didn't _get_ it. It was like he was just imagining things, like he was walking through a nightmare just that didn't seem real at all. No, seriously, it wasn't like he was _going _to believe that Echizen had been in an accident. It was completely one hundred percent _wrong._

After a while, the truth hit him.

No.

_No._

**NO!**

This was not happening. They were _not_ at the hospital for Echizen. Yeah, that was it. They were just visiting the doctor to congratulate him because he succeeded in curing a patient!

His reasoning was so dumb, he couldn't believe it himself.

There was no way Echizen wouldn't be able to play tennis again. It just wasn't _possible_. If there was anyone who knew how much Echizen loved tennis, it was him. Tennis was all he cared about!

"_Hey Echizen! Why did you come to Japan? Wasn't America really cool?"_

"_Hmm… My dad said that I'll find better tennis opponents in Japan…"_

_"Ochibi! What are you going to do when you grow up?"_

_"I'm not sure, senpai. I'll probably be a tennis pro or something. It's the only thing I can do, anyway."_

"_Echizen? Why did you say you wouldn't do it?"_

"_It would get in the way of tennis…"_

One thing was for sure. Momoshiro did _not_ want to see Echizen's face once he found out that he couldn't play tennis anymore.

* * *

Impossible.

That was the only thought that ran through Fuji's head. They couldn't really _expect _him to believe it, could they?

Echizen not being able to play tennis.

Impossible.

But deep down inside, Fuji knew that the doctor had told the truth. He also knew there was no use hiding from the truth. He even knew that that was what he was doing.

And he also knew that wishes could come true.

And he could only hope that this one would.

'_Please let him be alright…'_

* * *

Oishi was panicking. There must have been some mistake. Maybe the doctor was speaking to the wrong people. That must be it. The doctor _meant_ to talk to the people who came for the person in the next room, but something went extremely wrong and so he ended up here, or maybe the doctor had been distracted and told them the wrong information, or it might even be that there were two Echizen Ryomas in the hospital and they had merely come to the wrong door… Echizen might be walking happily out of a room two storeys above them completely unharmed….

He was willing to believe any of those options. _Not _what the doctor had told them.

Oishi heard Kikumaru cry louder and tensed up. This wouldn't just affect Echizen, it would affect them all.

Wasn't there anything he could do? Anything at all? Surely, if they did _something,_ Echizen could continue playing tennis?

How would Echizen feel when he woke up? The doctor _had _said that the bruises were pretty bad…and who knows _how_ he would react to the fact that he could no longer play tennis….

All they could do was hope for the best.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

I finally updated! It took me ages to write this chapter- I had to rewrite it a million times! Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

.rain

Tenisu no Ojou-sama Kagome

animegleek

Amy-sama90

Donatello8696

and also all the people who added this story to their favorites.

* * *

Echizen Ryoma was currently waiting in his hospital bed. Not very patiently.

If a person has bad news to tell you, wouldn't you want to hear it quickly? Not wait for ages and ages thinking about one terrible possibility after the other? The highly intelligent Seigaku regulars seemed to forget that fact. By now, Echizen had come to all sorts of horrible conclusions like Karupin dying and Seishun Gakuen being closed. If he was lucky, they'd tell him the truth today.

At least, that's what they said.

"Momo, you're telling him, aren't you?"

Momo nodded. The regulars were all standing outside the hospital room Echizen was in, about to enter and tell him the bad news. But what was he going to say? He couldn't just… say it so suddenly, could he? He had to go about it slowly, gradually, but how?

Oishi stepped forward, lifted his arm, and placed it on the handle. Then he hesitated and took his hand away again.

"We'd better get it over with," Taka said, with a sad smile.

Oishi nodded, and, with a deep breath, he pushed the door wide open.

Echizen looked up and glared at them.

"Well? Are you going to tell me?"

Momo gulped. He so did not want to do this. As if sensing his discomfort, Fuji stepped in front of him. He turned around and gave Momo a small smile, and then turned back to Echizen, eyes open.

"Well, Echizen, it is about time we tell you…"

* * *

Echizen had wanted to know what was happening, but he was beginning to dread it a bit more every moment. Either the news was really, really bad, or the Seigaku regulars were all over-reacting. This seemed more like the first option.

"The doctor has spoken to you about your injuries, hasn't he?" Fuji asked.

Echizen nodded slightly. His heart was beginning to beat a bit faster than usual. So the news was about his injuries?

"What did he tell you about your left arm?"

Now he was seriously starting to panic. "To be patient- It would take longer to heal than my other injuries."

Fuji paused for a moment before speaking. "Well, in reality, it won't heal well enough."

"What?"

"Echizen, your arm won't heal completely. You… won't be able to play tennis anymore."

Shock.

Horror.

And then Echizen's entire world came crashing down on him.

* * *

"Oi! Chibisuke! Get up!" Ryoga yelled to a fallen Ryoma from his side of the court.

Ryoma pushed himself up, and, stumbling a bit, made his way to the service line and served.

Ryoga returned it easily.

Ryoma ran forward to hit the ball, but ended up tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his face. The ball bounced off his head.

"Chibisuke! You can't expect to beat me and dad if you play like that!" Ryoga said before falling over, laughing.

Ryoma pushed himself up, clenching his fist. He slowly made his way back to the service line, anger boiling inside him. He threw the ball into the air and brought his racket up to hit it.

The ball flew straight past Ryoga, who opened his eyes wide in shock. "Whoa… what did you…?"

Ryoma smirked. "Mada mada dane."

_I'll beat you and Oyaji, watch and wait._

* * *

"Ochibi?"

"Echizen?"

"Echizen-kun?"

"…Echizen?"

"Oi! Echizen! ECHIZEN!"

"OCHIBI!"

Echizen opened his eyes. "Huh? What happened?" he asked slowly.

"Well, you passed out… Are you sure you feel okay?"

Then he remembered everything.

He'd never prove his brother wrong.

He'd never defeat Tezuka.

He'd never finish his match with Fuji.

He'd never win another match.

He didn't say anything. He didn't want to say anything. It was all too much for him to handle. He'd just lost the main thing he cared about.

"Echizen, are you sure you're alright?" Fuji asked.

"No."

Kikumaru spoke, planning on comforting Echizen, but sounding distressed himself. "Ochibi, everything will be okay, After a few days, you'll forget that this even happened, nya! You can learn something else, and you'll be good at it soon, you might even like it more than you like tennis-"

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" Echizen screamed, holding his head in his hands and shaking slightly. "I can't _do_ anything else, it's only tennis, it's always been tennis…"

his voice broke and he fell back on to his pillow. "You don't know how it feels… Without tennis, I'm…I'm…." he left the sentence unfinished and rolled over to lay on his stomach.

_Without tennis, I'm incomplete._

_

* * *

_

This chapter is so short. Anyway, the next update will come much sooner! I know what I'm going to write already!

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi! I know that I said I'd update sooner this time, but I was really, really busy. And even though I knew what I was going to write, I wasn't happy with how I wrote it. It took me six tries to finally write this, and I'm still not happy with it. I might even rewrite it again. It depends...

Anyway, once again, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

Donatello8696

memories of rain (NOTE: There was a huge spelling mistake on your pen name last chapter. I tried correcting it, and instead it deleted half of the name. I really don't know what happened. Sorry!)

soni-chan

I'd also like to thank everyone who added this story to Story Alert or Favorites. Thankyou!

* * *

"Hey! Did you hear about-"

"-About Echizen?"

"Yeah! He can't play tennis anymore!"

"I know! It's unbelievable, isn't it?"

Ryoma walked with his head down and shoulders slouched – the invisible look. He wasn't used to using it, but, then again, he wasn't used to having the entire school talking about something he didn't want them to talk about. And he _really_ wasn't used to not being able to block them out. He wasn't even used to having to hide, for Heaven's sake! But if anyone happened to see him, the whispers would surely get louder. Or, even worse, they might try to give him sympathy. That was the last thing he needed.

"So is Inui back on the team?"

"I'm not really sure…"

"Maybe I'll become a regular!"

"Well, atleast Echizen's gone!"

Ryoma bent his shoulders a bit more. _Only a bit longer. Just put up with it for a few more minutes._

"I'm glad he's gone, too!"

"Yeah! He was so arrogant and… he was _always_ showing off!"

"He spoilt the perfect picture of the regulars!"

Ryoma stopped.

"Serves him right!"

That was it.

He couldn't take it anymore.

With a sudden burst of speed, he sprinted towards the staircase and ran all the way up to the rooftop, slamming the door shut behind him.

And he just stood there, completely out of breath, for a moment or two before sinking to his knees.

As if on cue, all of the memories came flooding back, forcing him to collapse.

_"Chibisuke! You can't expect to beat me and dad if you play like that!"_

"_Echizen, become Seigaku's pillar of support."_

"_Ryoma, the dreams that I failed to achieve, I'm leaving them to you."_

"_We'll definitely win the nationals this year!"_

"_Come on, Echizen!"_

Ryoma screamed and held his head in his hands, shaking it violently as if to rid it of the memories.

_You failed, Ryoma._

"NO!" He screamed again, rolling over the floor.

The door opened and Kikumaru poked his head in. His eyes widened when he saw Ryoma and he practically leaped towards him, sliding onto his knees.

"Ochibi? O-Ochibi!" He began shaking the younger boy, trying to calm him down and knock some sense of reality into him. "OCHIBI!"

_You failed, Ryoma. You failed them all._

"No…Kikumaru-senpai…make it stop…please…make it stop…" Ryoma looked up at his senpai with pleading, begging, golden eyes. "Please, senpai…"

Kikumaru bit his lip. _Say something, Eiji! Say something! Don't just sit there looking at him! Say something, for God's sake!_

"I'll get help," he muttered, before dashing off. _So much for 'saying something'._

But he had wanted to get away. He couldn't stand looking at him. That wasn't the Echizen he knew. That Echizen had no need to beg, or plead, or scream. But that Echizen had had tennis.

Kikumaru increased his speed. He would just have to get the first person he saw.

* * *

Phillipines Rehabilitation Center.

German Rehabilitatin Center.

Health Rehabilitation Center.

Tezuka sighed for the hundredth time that day. He was trying to find an appropriate rehabilitation center for Echizen, but he didn't have much luck. And this was an emergency, too, because if Tezuka didn't find a solution soon, Echizen was going to do something rash. He was sure of it.

Just thinking about it made him sigh again.

It had been a few days since the regulars had told Echizen about is left arm, and his reactions were _not _good. For one thing, he went silent, only talking if it was completely, one-hundred percent, absolutely necessary. But, every now and then he would suddenly start blabbering nonsense about how he had not failed. Well, that was the only thing they could understand from what he said. His sentences were short, incomplete, and mostly incomprehensible.

Oh, and he had also started avoiding the regulars…

Tezuka Kunmitsu strongly resisted the urge to sigh once more, but failed horribly.

* * *

"Fuji! Fuji, Fuji, Fuji! FUJI!"

Fuji turned around and almost bumped into Kikumaru, who was running towards him at full speed. _What's with the serious tone? And the speed?_

"Fuji…Ochibi…rooftop…screaming...emergency…help…go…NOW!" he panted.

And Fuji took off.

And, despite the fact that he was tired, despite the fact that he really didn't want to see Echizen in that state again, Kikumaru followed.

"Echizen!" Fuji slammed the door open. But what he saw made him stand there for a few moments with his eyes wide open in shock.

Echizen was on the floor, tugging at his hair, rolling over and over, yelling something along the lines of 'I didn't fail' again and again, while gasping for breath.

Two seconds later, both Fuji and Kikumaru were kneeling at his side, shaking him and trying to offer comfort somehow.

"Echizen…"

* * *

_You failed, Ryoma. You failed. They believed in you. All of them. And you failed._

The same words, the same, haunting words eched in his head again and agiain. And nothing he did would stop it.

Nothing.

"No…I didn't…It was an accident…not myfault…not me…NO!"

He tried to argue, but the voice didn't seem to hear him. It just went on, and on, and on…

"Echizen."

Ryoma opened his eyes and looked up to see his senpai's concerned, sapphire eyes.

"Echizen, you…"

But Ryoma didn't hear the rest of the sentence. His memories had already consumed him.

"_Echizen, your arm won't heal completely. __You… won't be able to play tennis anymore."_

And that was all it took to send him into a fit once more.

* * *

"Fuji…isn't there _anything_ we can do, nya?" Kikumaru asked, looking at him desperately. "We can't just _leave_ him like this, I mean…he…he…" he broke off.

Fuji closed his eyes, seperating himself from the rest of the world. "We may just be adding to his pain, Eiji."

Kikumaru's head shot up. "_What?"_

Fuji opened his eyes again and stared up at the sky. He watched as several birds went flying past, and then, unable to stand the heat of the sun any longer, disappeared into the trees.

"Memories can be a very painful thing, Eiji…"

And Kikumaru burst into tears.

"Ochibi!"

* * *

So, how was it? I think I overdid the 'You failed' thing. Oh, well.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Um...Oops? It's been two months, has it? Well, I actually finished writing this a week ago, but the computer crashed when I typed it up, and I got so irritated that I didn't continue until today. My mistake.

Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

DixiePixie2011

D'psycosoul

Donatello8696

cranapple

memories of rain

Sprig

AnimeAddic5

Thankyou so much! I only got around to writing the story today because I got so many reviews, and because I had a dream that my sister made Chapter 5 an author's note that said that this story will not be continued.

* * *

"Aah, Ryoma-san!" Nanako smiled cheerfully at her cousin. "You're finally home!"

Ryoma merely began taking his shoes off.

"How was school?"

No reply.

Nanako's smile wavered a bit. "Um...Ryoma-san"

Ryoma glared towards her, clearly irritated. "It was fine, okay?" he snapped, before stomping up the stairs towards his room.

Nanako's smile dropped completely, and she sighed. "Uncle, do you think he'll ever be alright? He has to get over it sometime! He's been like this for so many days now..."

"Of course he'll be alright!" Nanjiroh interrupted, smiling in a way that might have been comforting, if it hadn't been obvious that it was fake. "He'll soon realize that tennis isn't the only thing the world has for him."

_Hopefully._

_

* * *

_

Ryoma threw his bag across the room and collapsed onto his bed, fuming.

Though he wasn't quite sure who he was angry with. Probably life in general. And maybe Horio, too.

It wasn't really his cousin's fault that he noticed that she didn't ask how the tennis club was doing once he entered the house. But even though he wasn't angry at her, he was still angry.

And, yes, it wasn't anyone's fault that it was four o'clock – time for tennis practice.

But it _was _Horio's fault that he managed to 'forget' that Ryoma broke his arm.

_~Flashback~_

"I want all of you to do exercise 4B and 4C on page thirty four for homework," the teacher announced.

Several groans could be heard from the class, which the teacher simply ignored.

"Okay, then, class dismissed!" She gathered her books and walked out of the classroom.

"Hey, Echizen!"

Ryoma ignored the call.

"ECHIZEN!" Horio placed himself in front of him, crossing his arms and blocking the way. And grinning victoriously. Why, only he knew.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow.

"Hyotei's coming over tomorrow," he announced, still grinning, "It's top secret, I only found out because Ryuuzaki-sensei and Tezuka-buchou were talking about it. You regulars will probably find out during practice today. _And-_" here he paused dramatically "-I'm sure that Atobe-san wants to play against you! You'd better watch out Echizen! I heard that- what?" he looked around him conused at the reaction he was getting.

The entire class was dead silent.

Ryoma visibly tensed, tightening his grip on his bag.

Horio's eyes widened with realization. "Uh...I'm sorry...I didn't know...I mean, I didn't mean to...I forgot that..." he trailed off.

And Ryoma walked swiftly out of the room, and out of sight of is classmates, before breaking into a run.

_You failed, Ryoma._

_~End of Flashback~_

Why?

Why did it have to be him?

Why not some random other person in the world who had something besides just tennis for a life.

_It just wasn't fair!_

And as if that wasn't enough, everything he saw had to remind him of tennis.

His family, his friends, his best friend, his school, his house, his friends, the television – _everything!_

Even his cat!

He rolled over and buried his face into his pillow, with one thought running through his head.

_Why?

* * *

_

Saying that evening practice was a disaster would be an understatement.

Sure, it _had _been like this for the last few days, but that didn't make it any less disastrous.

Everything looked so – wrong.

For one thing Momo and Kaidoh weren't fighting. Every now and then, Momo would notice and try insulting Kaidoh, but the insults were so pathetic that Kaidoh didn't even bother retorting.

Kikumaru wasn't being is usual bouncy-self either. Instead, he was dragging himself around the courts, sulking.

Oishi, on the other hand, was being an extreme version of his usual self. He was worrying over people a bit too much, and Tezuka had to forbid him to send five third-years with small scratches on them to the nurse's office.

Kawamura, like Kikumaru, was dragging himself around the courts, looking really depressed. He was talking even less than usual, and his mind was always somewhere else.

Even Fuji and Inui were acting different. Fuji's smile was more fake than ever, and Inui seemed to be writing in his notebook just for the sake of looking normal.

In fact, the only person who was acting like themselves was Tezuka, but even he seemed stricter than usual. He was assigning millions of laps for the smallest mistake, which the others ran without a complaint. And Momo or Kikumaru running laps without complaining was a miracle.

In short, all of the regulars, quite a few of the non regulars,and alost all of the freshmen were acting rather out of character. Even Horio was quieter.

And so practice went on like this until Ryuuzaki sensei announced that she wanted to speak to the regulars.

"Alright, everyone, dismissed!" Tezuka ordered. "Freshmen, pick up balls! Regulars, assemble in the clubroom!"

Everyone scattered to do what they were told, and so the regulars made their way towards the club room, were Ryuuzaki sensei was waiting for them.

She crossed her arms and tapped her feet rather impatiently, but wouldn't say a word. Finally, when Kikumaru opened his mouth to say something, "Look, I know all of you are really upset about what happened to Echizen, but Hyotei is coming over tomorrow, and they'll be expecting some good matches. So pull yourselves together!"

Her speech was met with complete silence, before Tezuka decided to speak up.

"She's right. We can't dwell in the past forever. We did fine without him before, and we can do it again."

Momo gaped at him.

"But, buchou, we can't just _forget_ about him!" he burst out. "Think of all the stuff we've been through together! And the kid only think about tennis, and he can't play anymore! He's so depressed! You saw him yourself!"

Ryuuzaki-sensei sighed. "Neither of us are telling you to forget him, Momo," she said gently. Then her tone turned much stronger. "We're just telling you to stop moping around the courts! He's not going to be back, so get used to it!"

Momo looked down at the floor. "I'm trying," he said quietly. Then he looked up again, his eyes full of tears threatening to fall. "But it's just not that easy!"

* * *

"Ryoma-san!" Nanako called. "Hurry up, you'll be late for school!"

Ryoma slowly walked down the stairs, taking his time, before realizing that he really _was_ going to be late. He ran down the last few steps, gobbled down his breakfast and dashed out the door...

...almost.

He would have if he hadn't seen his tennis bag sitting innocently next to said door.

And so he just stood there, looking at it, completely forgetting that he was going to be late.

_Should I pick it up?_

_No! Why should I? I can't even play anymore!_

_But,..still..._

_But still _what?

_...It might seem a bit more normal..._

_But what's the _point?

"OI! ECHIZEN! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Momoshiro yelled.

And without thinking any longer, Ryoma grabbed his tennis bag and sprinted out the door.

* * *

So how was it? Good? Bad? Horrible? Please review!

This is the longest chapter yet! Cool!


	6. Chapter 6

Yes! I updated it! Chapter six is here!

And it's my birthday, too!

Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

Donatello8696

DixiePixie2011

AnimeAddic5

Yuzuru Renge

Thankyou all so much!

* * *

"Oi, Echizen! We're gonna be late!" Momoshiro yelled, tapping his fingers on the bike handles impatiently. He was running out of time. A thousand laps were coming closer... and closer... and closer...

All of a sudden, the door burst open and Echizen came running outside, before leaning against it and panting heavily, eyes wide. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Um...Echizen? Are you okay?" Momo asked, concerned. He briefly wondered if he should go and check if there was an evil monster hiding inside the house, but decided against it.

Ryoma still didn't move.

"Echizen?"

"I'm okay," he said, before adjusting his school bag and tennis bag to a more comfortable position, walking towards him and climbing onto his bike.

That was when Momo noticed it.

Echizen was holding his tennis bag.

Not supposed to happen.

He turned around and looked at him, shocked, and _really_ not sure of what to make of this.

Ryoma gave him a questioning look, to which he replied with a smile.

_It's best if I don't mention it._

After all, Ryoma wasn't stupid enough to go and try playing tennis again.

* * *

_Why?_

_Why did I bring it with me_

_It will only earn me more pity, sympathy, and they'll tease me, too..._

_So, why?_

_I don't know... I really don't know..._

_What will I do with it?_

_It only reminds me of all my inabilities..._

_Aargh! I don't want to look at it anymore!_

You failed, Ryoma.

_No!_

And yo won't admit it either...

_I didn't fail!_

Everyone expected so much of you...

_It's not my fault I can't play anymore!_

And now look at you. You're so pathetic.

_No!_

You failed them all. Your father, your captain, your team...

_AAAARGH!

* * *

_

"AAAARGH!"

Momo stopped his bike and turned around in confusion to see Ryoma holding his head in his hands and breathing hard. When he saw Momo looking at him, he jumped off the bike and thrust his tennis bag towards him.

"Here," he said, in a hoarse voice. "Take this to school for me."

Momo blinked at him. "Echizen, I - "

"Please?" Ryoma said, looking like he was about to cry.

Momo immediately took it from him. "So you're not coming?"

"I don't really have to. I'm not exactly in the tennis club, you know."

Momo flinched slightly.

"And we're not that far from school. I'll walk later." With that, he turned and ran in the opposite direction, leaving Momo staring after him.

* * *

"Game, Oishi Syuichiroh. Six games to three!" Oishi walked towards the net to shake hands with Momoshiro.

"What's the matter Momo? You seem really out of it. It's not like you to lose so easily..."

"It's nothing, Oishi Senpai." Momo muttered.

"Oh?" Oishi raised an eye-brow.

Momo sighed. "Okay fine, I'll tell you... "

Oishi waited expectantly.

"It's Echizen!" Momo finally burst out. "He ran away!"

"From home?" Oishi panicked. "But what will he do all alone? He can't be - "

"No!" Momo yelled, gaining all the regulars' (who were standing somewhere nearby) attention.

"What happened, nya?" Kikumaru asked, bouncing towards them.

"Well, when I went to pick Echizen up this morning, he had his tennis bag with him," - this part alone shocked the regulars a rather lot - "and, when we were almost at school, he started screaming! I turned around to see what was happening, and he gave me his tennis bag, and told me to take it to school for him, and that he'd walk later. Then, he turned around and ran in the opposite direction." Momo paused for a few moments, "But the thing that shocked me the most was...was that Echizen was almost crying," his hands started shaking. "I've never seen him like that before!"

Oishi placed a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down a little. Kikumaru, on the other hand, was shouting his head off.

"Ochibi was almost crying? Nya, Momo! Why x didn't you go after him? Poor, poor Ochibi...he must have wanted some comfort-"

"I don't think Echizen _wanted_ comfort, Eiji," Fuji said. His eyes were still closed, but he wasn't smiling. "He probably wanted some time alone.

They all stood in silence for a while.

"Tezuka, I think time's up, shouldn't you end practice?" asked Oishi, looking at his watch.

Tezuka nodded. "Good job everyone! Hyotei will be here for evening practice, so be prepared. Freshmen, pick up balls. Everyone else, dismissed!"

Momo watched as everyone headed towards the clubroom.

"I guess I'll give Echizen's bag to Horio and tell him to give it to Echizen."

"No."

"Fuji-senpai?" He turned around, startled.

"Give it to him yourself, Momo," Fuji smiled, before turning to leave. "After all, we don't want him to avoid us like he did yesterday, do we?"

* * *

Ryoma was sulking in class. Well, not exactly sulking, but drowning in depression. He felt completely and utterly useless. And a failure in life.

The door opened, and Momo came inside looking nervous. Once he spotted Echizen, he walked towards him and put his tennis bag on his desk.

Echizen glared up at him.

Feeling the sudden need to say something, Momo said, "Echizen, I know you're upset about everything that's happened, but... don't worry. Remember, you're always part of the team." He ruffled Ryoma's hair and walked outside again.

Ryoma continued staring at air.

"Arrogant bastard," his classmate, Tamaki, hissed. "Momoshiro-senpai goes through all the trouble to come and comfort him, and he doesn't even _look_ at him."

Except for the fact that he clenched his hands a bit tighter there was absolutely no change in Ryoma's expression.

* * *

Classes were a disaster for Ryoma that day. There wasn't anything he could do without being insulted by his classmates. Sure, the freshmen trio tried to help, but against the rest of the class they weren't really that big a help.

If he answered a question, he was a show off. If he didn't, he was too proud of himself. At times like this, Ryoma realised that so many people only liked him because of his tennis.

The bell rang for lunch, and the teacher left the classroom. Horio immediately started bragging about his two years of tennis experience.

Ryoma smiled faintly. Horio would never change.

"What are _you_ smiling about?" Tamaki said loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. "You still believe you're the best of the lot, do you?

"Tamaki!" Kachiro cried horrified.

"Well, I think you need to realize that, despite what Momoshiro-senpai said, _you aren't part of the tennis team. You can't play anymore. Get it?_"

Ryoma got up slowly, head down, so that his bangs covered his eyes. He bent down and picked his tennis bag up, and then walked towards the door, pausing in the doorway.

"I apologize, Horio-san." he said quietly.

Then he all but fled the room, pushing everyone in the corridor aside and making his way towards the tennis courts.

He remained oblivious to a pair of sapphire eyes following him down the corridor.

* * *

Fuming, Ryoma made his way towards the tennis courts and slowly took his tennis racket out, treating it the same way as one would treat a sword.

He held it in his right hand_, _shaking and staring at it like he'd never seen it before.

Then, he picked up a random tennis ball and threw it in the air a few times. Without thinking any further, he hit it towards the wall.

The ball reached it's target with a resounding 'smack'.

That felt _so_ good.

He hit another ball and rallied for a while, but slowly became irritated.

He wanted to play_ properly._

Tamaki's words still echoed in his head, loud and clear.

_You can't play anymore. Get it?_

Oh, how he wanted to prove him wrong.

He slowly switched to his left hand, testing the weight of the racket. Then bouncing the ball a few times, he threw it upwards and hit it.

Paint shot up his arm.

The next thing he knew, he was shaking and falling to his knees, grasping his arm, with his face contorted in pain.

It was unbearable, and it wouldn't go away.

Finally deciding that it wasn't going to stop any time soon, he picked his racket p and stood once more, only to find his racket being pulled out of his grasp and watched as it was thrown towards the benches.

Feeling his anger return. He turned around to see his offender, but only saw a pair of angry, flashing, sapphire orbs before he was punched in the face.

Then all went black.

* * *

So how was it? Good? Bad? Horrible?

This is the longest chapter yet! Cool!

And probably the worst one, but such details can be forgotten.

Anyway, please review! I've stayed up all night typing this up!

Oh, and if you have any suggestions as to what to do in the next chapter, _please_ tell me!


	7. Chapter 7

Yes! I did it! I updated! YAY!

Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

Oluhasuu

Amy-sama90

Uhhh

RenKun-Sensei

animegleek (I'll be using your quote in the next chapter. Thankyou so much!)

Meg L.H.

SasunaruKunoichi

.friends

DixiePixie2011

Maiden of Books

Arctic Symmetry

In case I forgot to reply to someone, I am extremely sorry. I didn't know who I'd replied to and who I hadn't.

Anyway, hope you like Chapter 7!

* * *

Fuji glared at the currently unconscious Echizen, debating whether he should punch him again, or not.

After much though, he finally decided not to. The guy probably wouldn't feel anything, anyway. He _was_ unconscious.

So, ignoring all the murderous thoughts running through his head, Fuji bent down and concentrated on waking Echizen up.

"Echizen." He shook him slightly.

No reply.

"_Echizen."_

No reply.

"Echizen!"

"Fuji."

"…Tezuka?"

The unspoken question of 'What are you doing here' remained unspoken.

Tezuka handed him a bottle of water, which Fuji accepted with a small nod. He splashed some on Echizen's face. Ryoma shifted slightly, before slowly opening his eyes. He pushed himself up with his elbow.

Only then did he look at them.

Echizen blinked. Once. Twice. Then his eyes slowly narrowed.

For a split second, Fuji wondered if Echizen would punch him back. Luckily, he was proved wrong.

"Fuji-senpai? Tezuka-buchou?"

"Echizen. Are you alright?"

"Aa, I'm okay." He stood up slowly and rubbed his nose. "It still hurts a bit, though."

Tezuka nodded. "Get some rest. That was a hard blow." He turned to leave, then paused. "Don't let your guard down."

And then he was gone.

Fuji made a move to follow him. He had too many questions to ask. Like, for example, did Tezuka see him punch Echizen? Did he see what Echizen had done in the first place? Did he think Fuji acted wrongly?

But, before he could move, a hand grabbed his sleeve.

Fuji spun around, surprised. "Echizen? What is it?"

Echizen took his time answering, seeming to be lost in his own world. Fuji waited patiently. He watched as Echizen's eyes narrowed slightly, but still didn't meet Fuji's gaze. Finally, he spoke.

"Why did you do that?"

Fuji just smiled at him, and shook his head slightly.

Echizen glared at him angrily, and Fuji was _sure_ that he was going to punch him, but all he got was, "I deserved it, didn't I?"

How was he supposed to reply to that? Yes, he did deserve it, or at least Fuji thought so, but he wasn't going to _say_ that in front of Echizen. So he simply continued smiling and went to pick Echizen's bag up. Then he put an arm around the freshman's shoulder and walked him towards the school building.

"It's getting late, Echizen. Let's get you to class, ne?"

Echizen complied, but he was lost in his own world again.

* * *

Fuji left Echizen near his classroom, and walked swiftly towards Tezuka's, smiling at anyone who tried to interrupt his mission, causing them to back away.

When he finally got there, he opened the door and stood in the doorway.

"Tezuka, could you come outside for a moment?"

* * *

Once Fuji left him, Ryoma headed straight towards the rooftop. No way was he going back to class. Not when he had other choices, anyway. It was best to stay away from his classmates. Besides, he wasn't even hungry.

So he lay down on the bench and closed his eyes, thinking about everything that happened in the last few weeks.

It had been exactly three weeks since the accident, and around one week since he's been released from the hospital. So much had happened since then. So much that he didn't want to think about.

He still couldn't believe how that accident had managed to change his life so much. If he'd been paying more attention that day, or stayed further away from the road, or if he'd moved back once he saw the man running, none of this would have happened. He might have been on the tennis courts right now, hitting a ball against some wall.

Speaking of hitting balls, his hand still hurt so much. And thinking about how easily he'd been able to play tennis, and how much pain it caused him now…

It scared him.

* * *

"Well?" Fuji looked up at Tezuka impatiently. "How much did you see?"

Tezuka pushed his glasses up and crossed his arms. "Everything after he switched to his left arm.

_So he saw my punch. Should have expected it._

"And…" Fuji prompted. "What do you think about it?"

"I believe he deserved it."

"He said the same thing…" He said, more to himself than Tezuka.

"Did he?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow, slightly amused.

Fuji nodded. It confused him. If Echizen knew that he shouldn't have played tennis, why did he in the first place?

"Keep an eye on him, Fuji. He might do something reckless again.

Fuji smiled faintly.

* * *

Only when he had around two minutes before class started did Ryoma make his way towards his classroom.

He opened the door a crack, and peeked inside. His classmates were all huddled up near the other side of the classroom, so sneaking in wouldn't be that big a problem. Once inside, he slipped into his seat and sighed in relief.

Safe.

"Hey, look who's here."

…Or not safe.

"Oh, ignore him, Tamaki."

"Yeah. What can he do, anyway?"

"Smash a tennis ball in our faces?"

"Only in his dreams!"

There was a round of laughter, and Ryoma squeezed his eyes shut. _Don't listen to them. Ignore them. Ignore them._ He repeated it over and over again, hoping it would stop him from losing control.

"Hey, did you here that he actually thought that _he_ would support our tennis team?"

Ryoma's eyes snapped open in shock.

"No, really, can you imagine the Seigaku tennis tam being supported by _Echizen Ryoma?_"

There was another round of laughter, and Ryoma stared at his trembling hands with wide eyes.

The laughter was soon interrupted by the loud slam of the door. Everyone looked at in surprise. Horio was the first the break the silence.

"Who was _that?_"

* * *

Fuji was currently looking out the window and daydreaming. The sky was beautiful today. The clouds looked like a giant wave, rising from behind the trees and about to hit the school,. But it didn't look disastrous, like a tsunami. It was a wave that only brought peace, that washed away evil, and left the good-

SLAM.

Fuji winced and turned around. So did everyone else.

Kikumaru stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed and breathing heavily. Everyone near him started inching away slowly. The last time Eiji had gotten this angry, they were in Elementary school, and someone had made fun of his sister. The results were…not good.

_What happened this time?_

Kikumaru stomped towards his seat, which was right next to Fuji's, and slammed himself down. Fuji was about to ask what happened, but just the, Misaki-sensei walked inside.

As the class progressed, Eiji's anger died don a bit, and was replaced by sadness and worry. He still seemed quite angry, though.

_Something's wrong. I'd better ask him soon._

* * *

Echizen sighed in relief once the final bell rang. He could finally have some time_ without_ his classmates. Joy.

He packed his bag slowly, so that he'd be th last one in the room. Plan failed.

"Um, Echizen-kun?" Ecizen looked up and saw Kachirou, Katsuo, and Horio. He looked around and realised that they were the last ones in the room.

"Um, well, we're really sort about what Tamaki said…" Kachirou began.

"It was awfully inconsiderate of him." Katsuo added. "And the rest of the class, too."

"Ignore them." Horio said loudly. "They're just jealous because you're better than them.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow at him.

"That's not all," Kachirou shifted uncomfortably. "Uh…Hyotei's coming over today. We wanted to know if…if you could come watch the matches…" He nodded a few times.

Ryoma looked up at him thoughtfully.

"Please?"

Ryoma got up, picked his bag up, and nodded slowly. The trio grinned.

"I knew it!" Horio shouted. "You see, with my two years of tennis experience-"

Ryoma was lost in another world again.

_I might regret this, but I can't stay away forever, can I?_

* * *

"Aah, Tezuka! Be awed by Ore-sama's presence!"

"Atobe." Tezuka nodded his greeting.

"Be grateful that Ore-sama has come to help train these peasants. Ore-sama had to have a private talk with the principal to dismiss us early," he continued, "If it wasn't for Ore-sama's great-"

"There he goes again," Momoshiro whispered. "Narcissist." He looked around the courts and his eyes fell on a figure on the bench. "E-Echizen?"

Everyone turned and looked at Echizen, who was leaning forward with his bangs covering his face, so no one could see his expression.

"Ore-sama heard about the brat," Atobe said, with a serious face, "No one expected it. It was quite a shock to us all," he gestured towards his team.

"Ifelt so sorry for him," Ohtori shook his head sadly. Shishido nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he seemed to enjoy himself so much on the courts," Mukahi added.

"It was a pity indeed." Oshitari shook his head.

They all stood in silence for a moment. Then, Atobe spoke.

"Before we leave, Ore-sama wishes to speak with the brat," he said. "For now, let us begin the matches."

Tezuka nodded. "Inui has already decided the matches."

Inui stepped forward and flipped through his notebook. "The first match is between Atobe Keigo and Fuji Syuusuke," he announced.

"Fuji, ahn?" Atobe flipped his hair. Fuji's smile widened. The two stepped onto the courts and Atobe served.

* * *

Ryoma just sat on the bench silently, trying to stop himself from shaking.

The more he sat here, in the middle of all these courts, the more he wanted to play tennis. But he knew he couldn't, and it…frustrated him…so much…

Why did_ he_ have to get into an accident? Why couldn't it hace been someone like…Tamaki? He would have deserved it.

He started shaking again, and he closed his eyes tightly.

_It just isn't fair._

* * *

Fuji was distracted during the entire game. He couldn't help it. There was just so much going on _off_ the tennis courts that needed his attention, that he couldn't concentrate on the match.

Eiji till seemed pretty angry, and he kept sending worried glances towards Echizen, or sending death glares towards a certain freshmen. Tumaki? Tomoky? Tumhaki? Something like that.

And then there was Echizen himself.

Fuji honestly didn't think that it was good for him to have come here, and it looked like he was right. Echizen had been sitting in the exact same position the entire time, and if Fuji looked closely, he could see him trembling.

"Ore-sama demands you to play seriously!" ATobe growled.

Fuji smiled apologetically and served, but found himself distracted again.

"That's it! Tezuka! Ore-sama wishes to stop this match _right now!_" And with that, he marched off the court, head held high.

Fuji raised an eyebrow, amused.

"The next match," Inui called out, "will be between Mukahi Gakuto and Kikumaru Eiji!"

Mukahi grinned evilly, and raised his racket to point at Kikumaru. "I will defeat you!"

Kikumaru sent him a glare that proved that he was Fuji's best friend. It looked so…_wrong _on Kikumaru that even Tezuka raised his brows.

Mukahi backed away slowly, before running, yelling,"I'll be back!"

* * *

"You want to play, don't you?"

Ryoma looked up in shock. "…Tamaki?"

Tamaki grinned, but he didn't look at Ryoma. Instead, he stared straight ahead, where the regulars were.

"You really want to play, don't you?" he repeated.

Ryoma clenched his fists.

"And you're more than aware that you can't," he continued, "and that irritates you."

"Stop it," Ryoma whispered harshly. "Just-stop it!"

"You can't stand it," Tamaki grinned, still not looking at him, "You can't stand knowing that you can't do anything anymore."

Ryoma held his hands over his ears and shook his head, "I said stop it!" he said loudly.

"If you can't stand this, you shouldn't even be here."

Roma glared at him icily, before getting up and running away.

* * *

Kikumaru turned around sharply and saw Tamaki and Echizen talking angrily to each other. He practically growled and started towards them, but Fuji swiftly caught hm by the wrist. Kikumaru spun around, and Fuji looked at him with open eyes.

"Is that what was bothering you all day?"

Eiji nodded slightly and tugged at his arm urgently.

Just then, Ryoma got up from the bench and started running.

Fuji let go of Eiji, and the two of them took off in different directions.

Eiji pounced on Tamaki, scaring the life out of hima, and then dragged him up into a standing position.

"What did you do to Ochibi?" he ground out, eyes cold. This wasn't the Kikumaru Tamaki knew. He shivered.

Fuji chased after Ryoma, and caught him just as he got near the school gate. He grabbed his left wrist, and held it up in the air. Echizen tried struggling, but his hand still hurt, so there wasn't much he could do.

"Let me go, Fuji-senpai!" he screamed.

Fuji glared down at him, and Ryoma glared back with wild eyes.

"_Let me go!"_

Fuji turned around and dragged him back to the tennis courts. Once there, he pushed back onto the bench and sat down next to him.

Echizen continued glaring at him, and Fuji stared at him expectantly.

"Well? What was that all about?"

* * *

Phew. That took AGES to write.

Anyway, please review! And suggest something for the next chapter, too, if you have any ideas!

Thankyou!


	8. Chapter 8

Hi!

Um...It's been a long time?

Well, I'm sorry for the long wait, but the last three months of school were _crazy._ Really. But, now that the summer holidays have started, I've published chapter 8! Yay! It is a bit short, but chapter nine will be published some time this week.

I know what you're thinking. How will a person who normally takes one or two months to update something publish the next chapter in one week?

Well, the answer is, *triumphant music* I'VE ALREADY WRITTEN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

The reason I haven't published it is that I want someone to beta it (I think that's what it's called).

So does anyone want to be my beta reader? Please?

Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

Jen Heart Of LosAngeles

Meg L.H

RenKun-Sensei

Amy-sama90

And thankyou to all the people who added this story to favorites, or story alert.

Oh, and I have something to say to animegleek: I haven't been able to use your quote this chapter. But it'll definitely come in some time. I'm giving it a very important part in the story. Thanks again for letting me use it!

Now, back to the story!

* * *

"Let me _go,_ Fuji-senpai!"

Ignoring Ryoma's shouts of protest, Fuji dragged him back to the tennis courts. Pushing him down on the bench, he crossed his arms and stood towering over him.

"So, Echizen, why did you run away like that?" Fuji smiled sweetly, which normally meant, 'Tell me, or… well, don't say I didn't warn you."

Echizen shifted his gaze towards the floor, narrowing his eyes. "I was supposed to do something at home." He glared at Fuji. "And now I'll be late!"

Fuji tilted his head to the side, and continued smiling. "Saa… have you always lied so badly?"

Ryoma's glare intensified, and he opened his mouth to say something, but then thought the better of it and closed it again. He then returned to his original position: leaning forward so that his bangs covered his face.

Fuji sighed, then turned away. At a distance, he could see Eiji yelling at the weird freshmen – something like Tomoky – and Tomoky stammering something back.

Looking at Echizen again, as if to check if he might suddenly tell him what had happened, Fuji walked swiftly towards Eiji.

* * *

"What did you do to Ochibi, nya? Answer me!" Kikumaru hissed in a very un-kikumaruish tone.

"I h-honestly didn't d-do anything, senpai! E-Echizen m-must have l-lied to you about s-something-"

"I saw you," Kikumaru cut him off. "I _heard_ you. Ochibi didn't say anything to me! In fact, because of you, he's been _ignoring _us, nya! So don't lie to me!"

"I'm n-not lying!"

Kikumaru shook him again furiously, and was about to start yelling at him again, when-

"Of _course_ you aren't lying, Tumaky-kun," The voice was cold, sarcasm etched into every syllable. "Eiji, don't accuse younger children of doing things they didn't do."

Tamaki's eyes widened. That voice…

…Fuji Syuusuke.

The only thing Tamaki could think of saying was, "My name is T-Tamaki, senpai."

Fuji nodded and smiled at him. "A pleasure to know your name, Tumiky-kun." He turned towards Kikumaru. "Saa, Eiji, what did you see Tumkahi-kun doing during lunch?"

Kikumaru hesitated a bit before answering, "Remember how Tezuka said that Ochibi would be our pillar of support, nya?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Tamaki-kun told Ochibi's class that Ochibi thought he could support us, and so, he said, 'Can you imagine the Seigaku tennis tam being supported by _Echizen Ryoma?_' You shoud have seen Ochibi's expression, nya. He was so upset!" he finished, distressed. His anger was slowly being replaced by worry.

Tamaki averted his gaze and raised his eyebrows in mock amusement, which didn't go unnoticed by Fuji.

"And what did you say to him now, Tinaki-kun?"

"Nothing. I asked him if he was feeling okay, because he seemed really out of it."

And Echizen over-reacted?"

Tamaki hesitated, then nodded firmly.

"Sounds just like him," Fuji said, sarcastically.

Tamaki flinched.

Fuji nodded, "I'll deal with you later." Both he and Kikumaru walked back towards the other regulars, leaving Tamaki to wonder how Fuji was planning to bury him once he suffered a slow painful death.

* * *

"Kikumaru, get on the courts! Mukahi-san is waiting!" Tezuka ordered.

"Though not eagerly," Gakuto muttered to himself.

"Good luck, Eiji!" Fuji called to him.

"Thanks, Fuji!"

Fuji smiled and moved to stand next to Tezuka.

"What did Echizen say?" Tezuka asked quietly.

Fuji looked surprised. "You were watching?"

Tezuka nodded.

"Saa…" He quietly explained what he'd found out. "Maybe you should talk to him. Or Momoshiro maybe, they _are_ best friends…" Fuji turned to look at Echizen…

…and found the bench empty. Echizen was gone.

He quickly scanned the places around him. There was Echizen's bag, right next to the clubroom…strange, he'd left without his bag? And-

Wait a minute.

_His tennis bag was missing._

Oh, great.

* * *

Ryoma bounced the ball. Once. Twice. Three times. Then he held it up to his face.

What was he doing here _again? _This was the second time he was trying to destroy his arm in one day.

Hadn't he learnt from the first time? He'd never be able to use his arm again.

_Use you right arm, for God's sake! Don't destroy your left!_

_No! I _will_ play with my left hand! I always play with my left hand!_

_But not anymore! You don't even _play _anymore!_

_There's no way I'm never playing tennis again! Besides, It's only a wall!_

_But-_

_Oh, shut up!_

He bounced the ball a few more times, and got ready to serve, when he heard a voice –

"Oi, kid! Don't you want someone to play against?"

* * *

How was it? Good? Okay? Freakingly horrible?

Anyway, please review!

And, if you're a beta-reader, can you _please_ beta my story?

Thankyou!


	9. Chapter 9

I did it! I published in less than a week! Three cheers for me!

So, anyway, thankyou to all the reviewers:

Oluhasuu

Beccann

Prince of tennis yaoi fangirl (I can't put the periods in between the words. It ends up deleting the name. Sorry!)

living to dream

RenKun-Sensei

Meg L.H

Special thanks to my beta-reader, Meg L.H. If it wasn't for her, this chapter probably would have stayed in my notebook. I didn't exactly want to post it...

But anyway, back to the story!

* * *

"Oi, kid! Don't you want someone to play against?"

Ryoma turned sharply. The owner of the voice was tall, about a foot taller than him, and he grinned at him evilly.

"No, thanks," Ryoma answered, turning around and getting ready to serve again.

This time the boy grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, shaking his shoulders angrily.

"You're Echizen Ryoma, aren't you, brat?"

A nod.

"The supposedly great player, who broke his arm?"

A slight nod.

The grip on his shoulders tightened. "The brat who won against my entire family?"

Blink.

"Don't tell me you don't remember!" The guy hissed. "You don't know how bad you made my family look."

"What fa-"

"I'm Taigama Sasabe." The boy glared at him. 

"Sasabe?" Ryoma blinked again. "Who – _oh."_

_Sasabe._ The big bully. And his dad was the 'Golden Retriever'. He hated those guys.

"So you're Sasabe's big brother."

Taigama didn't answer. "Play a match with me," he repeated.

"No!" Ryoma snapped, "In case you haven't noticed, I broke my arm!"

"You seemed ready to play against the wall," Taigama snapped back.

Ryoma opened his mouth, then shut it again. "That's...different..." he finally said.

Taigama snorted. "Sure it is." That said, he dragged Ryoma to the nearest tennis court (which was right next to them). He shoved him onto one side, sending him stumbling, trying not to fall. Taking his position on the other side, Taigama shouted out to one of his friends to refree.

_Fine, _Ryoma gritted his teeth, _I'll just use my right arm._

He bent down and was very seriously tying his shoe laces, when he heard Taigama serving. Turning around furiously, planning on yelling at the guy, his eyes widened when he found the ball heading straight towards him. Without having time to react, he shielded his face with his right arm, and the ball hit it. Hard.

"Oops," Taigama feigned surprise. "I think that was the wrong arm!"

Ryoma's eyes widened in shock. _He can't mean...he wants to hit my left arm?_

Luckily, though, the next serve was ordinary. Ryoma hit it, and the rally went on. After a while, despite the fact that he was angry about Taigama hitting him, he was starting to have fun. _He was playing tennis. He was actually playing a match! _This was what he'd wanted to do for the past three weeks.

"Having fun, are you?" Taigama called out.

Ryoma didn't reply.

"Well, we'll see about that!" He hit a drop shot.

Ryoma ran forward to get it. He was almost there, almost there - he managed to reach it with the tip of his racket, and he lobbed it over the net.

"Look out!" Taigama shouted. He jumped up and smashed the ball...

...straight onto Ryoma's left arm.

He fell to his knees, gasping, forcing himself not to scream.

"I'd meant to do that all along," Taigama said his evil grin returning. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid my aim is just a tad bit too good!"

Ryoma felt his vision going blurry, and he shook his head. _No, no no! Don't let him take advanatge of you! Fight, Ryoma, fight!_

_There isn't anything to fight about!_

_So you're going to let him win?_

_No..it's just...I can't-_

"Oi, aren't you gonna get up? Or are you gonna give up? Should have expected it..."

Seething, Ryoma pushed himself up slowly. Grasping his tennis racket tightly, he readied himself for the next serve. "I'm ready."

Taigama grinned. Throwing the ball up, he hit it straight towards his face, but, moving quickly, Ryoma returned it.

Taigama didn't seem to care. He just jumped up, and smashed the ball again, towards his _left_ arm.

On a normal occasion, returning that ball would have been easy. But after having been hit already, Ryoma just stood there, frozen into place. _What the...I can't...What am I...I should...Aaaaaaaaaargh!_

The ball hit him, and Ryoma screamed, falling to the ground. His arm was throbbing, he could see black spots, and _it hurt..._

Taigama smirked. "Revenge never tasted so sweet."

Ryoma barely heard him. His arm hurt too much, _way_ too much, and it was hard enough to try and keep himself from passing out. He was vaguely aware of four or five other people stepping onto the court. The _same_ court.

"I hope you don't mind some of my friends joining in," Taigama drawled.

"But...that's...cheating..." Ryoma panted.

"So? Are you playing or not?"

_Don't give up._

_I can't play like this!_

_Your right arm! You can play with that!_

_That's what I'm doing! But my left arm hurts so much! What if he hits it again?_

_Are you scared?_

_What? No..._

With his vision still swimming, Ryoma reached for his tennis racket, his arm trembling.

_I'm not scared._

He steadied himself, and pushed himself up. Everything started going out of focus. He shook is head a few times, and tried to stop thinking about the pain. The dizziness decreased, slightly.

At that moment, all six of his opponents served. The balls hit him everywhere, scraping his skin off, leaving him bleeding, and all he did was stand there frozen to the spot.

Someone hit the ball straight towards his face, and, as he watched it coming closer, he was jerked into a memory -

_Akutsu hit the ball. It went straight towards his face. He was sure he wouldn't be able to hit it! At the last minute, he slid his racket in front of him, swiftly returning the ball. Getting a sudden idea, he threw himself backwards, landing on his back. No one noticed him hitting the ball, they all thought that it hit him in the face and he fell over._

_Only when the ball landed in Akutsu's court did everyone realize what had happened._

"_Brat," Akutsu snapped, "Stop pretending and get up!"_

_He'd won the point._

- the ball hit him in the eye, and Ryoma readied himself for the fall. It never came.

Just before he hit the ground, he was caught by a pair of arms. He felt himself being lifted up and carried off the courts. He tried to open his eyes to see who was carrying him, but he didn't have the energy to. His arm was still throbbing, and he was bleeding all over. He could hear voices, though, but they sounded far away...

"Ochibi!"

"Echizen!"

"Echizen-kun!"

"Brat!"

"Echizen-san!"

"What was he thinking?"

He tried open his eyes again, but he was way too tired. He didn't know how he'd drained all of his energy, but he wasn't -

_He was exhausted. He jut couldn't get up. Was someone calling him? It sounded like...Momo-senpai...and Kikumaru-senpai...But he couldn't get up...he was much too exhausted...Just let him sleep a little longer..._

_Wait a minute._

_Forcing himself to stand up, he saw Atobe already standing up, waiting for him. Somehow, he managed to serve. The ball flew right past Atobe._

_Atobe was unconscious._

_Seigaku had won._

_But he was still so tired..._

- able to move. He just wanted to rest...

"Is he alright?" A worried voice asked. '_Oishi-senpai,' _he thought blearily.

"Should we do anything about those players?"

"Momoshiro and Kaidoh will take care of them," a stern voice replied. '_Tezuka-buchou.'_

He suddenly twitched involuntarily -

"_No! Reiji! Don't use that move! Do you want to destroy Ryoma Echizen?"_

_Shinjou crossed his arms in a weird stance. What was so dangerous about it? Could it really be that bad?_

_Shinjou hit the ball. It grazed his face, the force peeling his skin off and pushing him to the ground._

"_There it is. The Deep Impulse."_

- then he twitched again. What was happening

"What's happening to him? Are you sure he's alright?"

"He seems to be unconscious..."

"Oi, Echizen!"

He tried to open his eyes again, but it just wasn't worth the effort.

"Fuji, put him down on the bench!"

He felt himself slowly being lowered gently, then his back connected with something hard.

He twitched again, banging his arm against the bench. He winced in pain.

"His arm doesn't look too good," someone said, "I think we need to take him to a hospital..."

_He was playing against Tezuka-buchou. Correction: He was losing against Tezuka buchou. Almost every shot he'd hit had been returned. This couldn't be happening – he couldn't be losing so badly!_

_Tezuka hit another zero-shiki drop shot. He ran forward to get it..._

_...and missed it at the last minute._

_He'd lost._

_He'd lost the match._

"_Echizen, become Seigaku's Pillar of Support!"_

A hospital? No, no, he didn't want to go to a hospital!

He twitched again.

"Do you think I can at least find a first aid kit somewhere?" Oishi asked worriedly. "His wounds will get worse if he twitches like that! He keeps banging himself against the bench..."

"Oishi, relax. He''ll be alright!" Another voice – _'Kawamura-senpai?' - _comforted him, but sounding worried himself.

"I think Oishi's right. We probably need to take him to a hospital."

Ryoma twitched again. His memories were-

"_Nya, Ochibi, Momo-chan, I was right, nya! You two eat a LOT!"_

_The two of them grinned. Then hearing some shouts behind them, they all turned around,. A man was running towards them, trying to get away from all the people chasing after him._

"_MOVE IT, KID!" the man screamed at him. But before he could react, he shoved him aside, sending him stumbling into the street. He was trying to steady himself, when a car started speeding towards him. His mind stopped – he couldn't move - _

_The car hit him._

_He flew backwards a few feet, his vision growing hazy - _

_The car rode over him._

_Then all went black._

-consuming him._ No, no, no! Stop it...This isn't happening...All of that is _over...

He twitched again, slightly.

"Wait...I think he's awake..." Someone started shaking him slightly. He groaned slightly.

"Gakuto, stop that! He needs to rest!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" He was slowly put down again.

"But really, what was he thinking? Getting himself into a match...Against those guys, too..."

"_Echizen, the doctor has told you about your injuries, right?"_

"_Yes..." So the bad news was about is injuries?_

"_What did he say about your left arm?"_

_He was beginning to panic. "To be patient: It would take longer to heal than my other injuries."_

_Fuji hesitated, then spoke, "Well, in reality, it won't heal well enough."_

_Now he was _really_ starting to panic. "What?"_

"_Echizen, your left arm won't heal completely. "You...can't play tennis anymore."_

He started sweating, and twitching uncontrollably. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth...

"Echizen? Echizen, are you alright?" He was lifted off the bench again, but he didn't stop twitching. "Tezuka, we have to take him to a hospital.."

"Aa."

"But-"

"Hiyoshi, forget the matches. We have to get him to the hospital. His arm looks _really_ bad. We can play another day."

"Ore-sama agrees."

* * *

That was long.

I really didn't know how to end it, though. It ended a tiny bit strangely...

What did you think of it? Please review! And if you have any ideas for the next chapter, please let me know!

Meg L.H, Thankyou so much!


	10. Chapter 10

Yes! I updated! I'm alive!

I am really, really, sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to update very often anymore. School is crazy, and I spend all my time doing homewok, studying, reading a book, or sleeping. I was only able to update now because it's the term holidays.

Anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers:

Naru-chan3000

ilikepie123

CrimsonMoon2009

ShamelesslyUsed

Beccann

Lord Of The Plushies

Lady-x-Exorcist

* * *

"_Haha! Take _that, _Chibisuke!" Ryoga laughed at him as he smashed the ball into his court._

_Ryoma growled in reply. Racing towards the ball, he jumped sideways to reach it, and returned it just in time._

_Ryoga just laughed again and it hit it back easily._

_The rally went on, with Ryoga taunting him every now and then, but Ryoma felt ecstatic. Playing tennis against a good opponent always made him feel that way. He might have been losing, but he felt in top of the world. When he was on the courts, he knew what he was doing, and, more importantly, he loved what he was doing. At times like this, he never wanted to stop playing._

"_Ne, Chibisuke, isn't this fun?" Ryoga asked, grinning widely._

_Ryoma smiled at him and nodded. "Uisu!"_

* * *

The door opened, and the doctor came out. Everyone immediately got up from their seats.

"Is Echizen Ryoma's family here?"

Nanjiroh, Rinko, and Nanako stepped forward.

"I would like to speak to them first." The doctor turned back.

Nanjiroh and Nanako made a move to follow him, but Ryoma's mother stopped them. "You can tell us all together," she said firmly. Seeing the doctor's look, she added, "Please. They've been waiting longer than us."

The doctor hesitated then nodded. The regulars looked at Rinko gratefully.

The doctor cleared his throat, and then spoke.

"I believe that I have told you all about Echizen-kun's previous condition. But only a few of you: his family, Tezuka-kun, and Inui-kun know the details."

The majority of the regulars started to question this statement, but Tezuka silenced them with a look.

"So, for the benefit of the others, I shall start from the beginning.

"When Echizen-kun was hit by the car, the impact mainly landed on his left arm, because, apparently, he attempted to shield himself with it. When it rode over him, it damaged his arm further.

"The damage was very bad, and he suffered a comminuted fracture; that is, his arm fell to pieces. We managed to heal most of it, but, a certain part near his elbow was too close to a very important nerve to risk it. He would be able to do small things with his arm, but anything more would shatter it again.

"Echizen-kun has put a lot of stress on his arm, but, miraculously, it didn't harm him as much as I might have expected. But, when he got hit by a ball, his arm couldn't take it and shattered again."

Everyone shared uncomfortable looks, and Momo clenched his fists tightly.

But the doctor held up his hands. "It's not as bad as you think it is. In a way, it might have helped him."

Kikumaru looked confused, and Oishi opened his mouth to say something, but doctor went on.

"The ball caused the pieces to move slightly, very slightly, and so we think it is safer to attempt to heal his arm completely, but, even with this stroke of luck, the risks are very high. If one small thing goes wrong, it can damage Echizen-kun's entire nervous system."

No one knew what to think anymore.

"If we attempt the surgery, and it is successful, he will be able to move his arm freely, play tennis, and we won't have to deal with problems like this again." The doctor wrinkled his nose. "But, if it _isn't _successful, he will not be able to move his arm ever again, and won't be able to feel anything with it, and it is quite possible that he will have brain damage.

"So the question is, will Echizen-kun accept the surgery under these risks?"

No one spoke. There was no point in saying anything. Not when they didn't know what to say.

The question wasn't whether Echizen would accept the surgery or not. The question was, did they want him to?

* * *

"_Oi! Chi-bi-su-KE!" Ryoga sang out, before pouncing on his brother and tackling him to the ground._

_Ryoma pushed himself up and gave his brother his best death glare."What?"_

"_Dad wanted me to tell you that he wanted a match."_

_Ryoma's eyes lit up immediately, and he stumbled to his feet, then ran to his room to get his racket._

_When he came back, he found Ryoga looking at him in amusement._

"_What?" he demanded._

_Ryoga shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking..."_

_Ryoma looked at him expectantly._

_Ryoga snapped his fingers triumphantly. "That's it! From now on, If I want you to do something for me, I just have to promise you a match and you'll do whatever I want, right?"_

_No comment._

_Ryoga grinned like a lunatic, and Ryoma rolled his eyes._

* * *

The doctor looked at them all for a while, and was about to go back inside the room, but a nurse came out instead. She looked around nervously, and then whispered something to the doctor. He raised his eyebrows slightly, the nodded, and the nurse went back inside the room.

The doctor turned towards them again. "He's awake."

* * *

One of the shortest chapters so far. It was mostly just an explanation of Ryoma's condition.

I'd written all of the chapters of this story at the spur-of-the-moment, and so, this chapter, I had to stitch together all the stuff I'd written and make it make sense somehow. I researched all kinds of broken arms, the complications of surgery, and even read some news clippings. It was BORING.

Anyway, please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Okay, I know its been like, seven months, and I'm really, really, sorry. But school was hectic, and I barely had time to write anything. Now the summer holidays have started, so I'm free. Also, I'd lost inspiration for this story, and had decided to edit it, but when I re-read it today, I decided that could be done later (since I deemed it a bit presentable), and my inspiration returned, and zi started writing again. I apologise for the long wait, especially after such a pointless chapter, but there was nothing I could do. This year I'm going into high school, so it'll be even crazier, but I promise I will continue writing, because it actually helps me. This chapter may be kind of stupid, since I wasn't very sure what should happen in it, but I hope it's okay.

Thank you to all those who reviewed:

smokeydirtcat

JigokuTenshi834

shemeno

Sassy618

Moon Crescent Neko

kira

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And also to those who added this story to Story Alerts or Favorites.

* * *

Someone was talking.

He wasn't sure who it was, but the voice seemed…familiar. It was soothing somehow, and he found himself wanting to see who's voice it was. Slowly, slowly, he opened his eyes, and found himself staring into the eyes of his mother.

"Kaa-san?" he asked quietly, looking at her in confusion. She smiled at him, and stroked his hair slightly. "It's good to know that you're awake, Ryoma."

He tilted his head slightly to look behind her, and saw his father and his cousin. His father was staring at him blankly, with a frown on his face, and his cousin seemed worried about something, but she was smiling all the same.

He turned his attention back to his mother. "Did something happen?"

At that, his father outright laughed. "Did something happen? _Did something happen? _Do you even know what you're asking?" he said, a tad bit hysterically.

Rinko shot him a warning look, and he fell silent and stared out the window.

Ryoma looked at his mother in confusion. She sighed, and stroked his hair again. "Ryoma, you have a very big decision in front of you. After you…_played a match _against those…_people,_" his mother's expression turned very irritated, and Ryoma felt ashamed of himself, but then she went back to normal, "the broken pieces of your arm shifted slightly. So it is possible to heal it."

Deep down, Ryoma knew that he should be feeling happy, but he felt a strong sense of foreboding, and he was tired, so very tired…he seemed to be walking through a dream.

"But," his mother continued, "the risks are very high. If they attempt the surgery, you will most likely end up damaging your nervous system, and could possibly have brain damage."

Ryoma continued staring at her, and then pushed himself into a sitting position.

"The choice is up to you. But I don't think that it is a very good idea to attempt the surgery. We don't want you to get any more hurt than you are now."

Ryoma looked back at his father, who was looking increasingly distressed by the second. The man ignored his gaze pointedly, and continued staring into the distance.

Rinko waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't mind Nanjiroh. He's just having a hard time grasping all of this." She looked at him intently for a moment, and then seemed to come to some conclusion. "Do you want to hear a story, Ryoma?"

He wanted to do nothing more than sleep, but the way his mother said that roused his curiosity. He nodded slightly, and she started her story.

"A long time ago, there lived a prince, named Prince Kyra. By the time he was fifteen, he was the most feared warrior in the land, and his sword fighting was unlike any one else's. No one could defeat him. Oh, many tried. Many, many tried. But in the end, all their efforts proved useless. Soon, everyone was forced to accept the fact that he was undefeatable.

"But, as luck would have it, Prince Kyra faced a terrible injury. As he was riding his horse, it got scared of something, and threw him off. Both of his legs were hurt badly, and he had to use crutches for the rest of his life."

Here, Ryoma started wondering if Prince Kyra had really existed, or if his life history was being made up on the spot.

"All those who he had defeated were overjoyed. They made fun of him, and he grew depressed. Now that he wasn't able to fight, he didn't have anything else he could do, and, eventually, he vowed to never leave the palace, and he avoided all possible contact with others."

Yes, he was definitely beginning to doubt this guy's existence.

"One day, as he was sitting in his bed room, he heard a nightingale from outside. He limped over to the window, and peered out side, and he found it perched on a nearby branch, singing its heart out.

"He was touched by the beauty of the voice, and, long after the bird flew away, he started to sing. He sang about his depression, and his losses, and, as he sang, his worries faded, and for the first time since his accident, he felt genuinely happy.

"Inspired by the birds song, he learnt how to play various instruments, and started singing all the time. He became famous once more, and no one made fun of him again. But most importantly, he had found something new, and was happy." His mother smiled at him. "I think you're smart enough to figure out the moral for yourself. Anyway, we should be leaving now. Your friends are waiting to visit you."

Caressing his face one last time, she stood up, and left the room. His father looked at him seriously, and said, "Get well soon, seishounen." Then he too was gone, and his cousin followed them.

Ryoma sighed quietly. Why did stories about nightingales always touch him so much?

* * *

Moments later, the door opened again, and Kikumaru, Momo, and Oishi came inside.

"_OCHIBI!" _Kikumaru shrieked, bounding over to Ryoma. Ryoma winced. Luckily, his senpai remembered that he had a broken arm, and hugged him gently. Then he pulled away and wagged a finger at him. "Really, Ochibi, you should learn to behave yourself! Why on earth did you go and start a match against that bunch of idiots?" He looked at him sternly.

Ryoma glared at him half heartedly. "I didn't start it, he forced me to."

They all looked at him in disbelief, and he sighed in exasperation.

"Well, Echizen," Oishi started uncomfortably. Ryoma raised an eyebrow at him, silently telling him to continue. "Um, well…what decision have you made?"

Ryoma opened his mouth, then shut it again. Then he looked down at his hands.

Should he have the surgery? Was it really worth it? Was that _small_ hope that he _might _be able to play tennis worth risking the damage of his nervous system? Maybe everyone was right, maybe it was possible that he'd find something he liked better than tennis…

He froze.

_Better than tennis?_ What was he thinking? Of course there wouldn't be anything like that! Tennis was the only thing he could do! And, if he could play again, he could prove all of his classmates wrong, and he'd never have to listen to that stupid voice in his head again…

"-chizen? Oi, _Echizen! _Snap out of it!"

He broke out of his thoughts abruptly and blinked up at Momoshiro, who was waving his hand wildly in front of his face. "Huh?"

* * *

Kikumaru looked at Ryoma worriedly. The boy had fallen silent, staring at his hands, losing himself in another world.

"Echizen?" Momo tried. Ryoma remained silent. "Echizen!" He waved his arms in front of his face, trying to get his attention. "Oi, _Echizen! _Snap out of it!"

Ryoma broke out of his reverie. His eyes were glazed over, and he seemed confused. "Huh?"

Momo sighed. "Well, what have you decided?"

Ryoma's eyes narrowed, and he looked down again. "I don't know…maybe I…should accept the surgery…"

Kikumaru sprang up. "No!" he shouted.

"_Eiji!" _Oishi said sharply. Kikumaru ignored him.

"No, no, no! I won't let you! There is no way I'm letting you accept surgery! It's too risky!"

Ryoma's eyes narrowed even more, and he glared at Kikumaru dangerously.

_Well, Ryoma, isn't this proof of what I've been saying? It's a perfect opportunity for them to get you off the team. You know how much they disliked having one regular kicked out every time…_

_No! Kikumaru-senpai wouldn't do that!_

_Oh, really? But you showed them how useless you were. They don't want you back now._

_Shut up! They would never do that!_

_But you failed, Ryoma._

The voice in his head grew louder, and louder, and finally, he gave in to it. "Are you sure that's the reason?" he hissed at him, his glare intensifying. "Or is it just so that you can keep me off the tennis team?"

Kikumaru blanched, Oishi flinched. Momo just stared at Ryoma in disbelief.

"O..chibi?" Kikumaru said slowly, when he was able to speak again.

Ryoma jumped, realizing what he'd said. "Senpai, I didn't mean that! Really, I…I don't know…It just…" he placed his head in his hands, shutting his eyes tightly. Kikumaru moved towards him, to hug him maybe (he wasn't sure himself), when suddenly, the boy took a deep breath, and shouted, at the top of his voice,

"_WILL SOMEONE MAKE THIS STUPID VOICE __**SHUT UP**__?"_

They all stood frozen for a second. Then, the door opened, and the doctor came rushing in. "Is everything okay, Echizen-san?"

Ryoma took another breath and nodded, his eyes still closed.

The doctor looked at him for a moment, frowning, and then looked sternly at the older three boys. "I'm afraid you should leave now. Others are still waiting to see him."

They nodded and left the room.

* * *

Inui, Kaidoh, and Taka visited next. Taka sat down next to him on the bed, and asked a lot of worried questions, but Ryoma brushed him off tiredly. The rest of the conversation was mild, and Kaidoh asked him about Karupin, which calmed him down a little. By the end of their visit, he had calmed down a lot, and had trapped the stupid voice up in the back of his mind.

Next, Fuji and Tezuka came in, and Fuji sat on the bed like Taka had before, and stared hard at him. Ryoma looked pointedly in the other direction, guessing what was on the older boy's mind.

A few moments passed, and Fuji's stare was beginning to unnerve him. Finally, he turned to face him, and gave him his best death glare. Fuji's gaze never wavered, and then, finally, he spoke.

"You do know that you deserved that punch?"

Ryoma's eyes narrowed once more, but he did not reply. Fuji shook his head, sighing, and then spoke again. "What is your decision?"

"I don't know." He hoped fervently that he would change the topic.

Fuji did not seem to get the hint. "I agree with Kikumaru. It is much too risky. None of us want you to accept it, but it is entirely your choice."

Tezuka nodded his assent. "Aa. There is no point in accepting surgery. You can play tennis with your right hand when you feel like it, and maybe find something else you can do."

Ryoma closed his eyes, feeling a wave of tiredness wash over him. He was exhausted…he really needed to sleep…

Slowly, he leaned back against the head board and let his head fall on to his shoulder. He heard someone say something, but he was too sleepy to care.

He felt someone move him on the bed, so that he was lying down, and they positioned his head on his pillow and pulled his blanket over him. He muttered a quiet thank you before he fell fast asleep, thinking about Prince Kyra and the nightingale.

* * *

**The Next Day**

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Yukimura-buchou?" Marui asked him nervously, chewing on his bubble gum.

Yukimura smiled reassuringly, "Yes, Marui, I'm fine." His voice made it clear that if anyone else asked, there would be trouble.

The Rikkai Dai regulars walked down the hallway in silence. As they turned a corner, they saw something unexpected.

"It's Seigaku!" Kirihara stated the obvious.

Yukimura raised an eyebrow. All the regulars seemed to be there, except for Echizen. Yukimura frowned. He had heard that Echizen was supposed to have been terribly injured, but he was out of the hospital. Maybe something had happened again?

He turned to Yanagi, waiting for him to confirm his suspicions. Yanagi nodded slightly. "They seem to be here for Echizen Ryoma."

At that moment, the Seigaku regulars noticed them.

Yukimura smiled widely. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to pay him a visit."

* * *

Well, how was it? Rikkai Dai's appearance is actually a very important part of this story, which seems to be coming to an end.

And in case you haven't figured it out, Prince Kyra doesn't exist. I made him up on the spot, and so did Rinko. Tada.

Anyways, please review!


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm alive.**

**This story is finally coming to an end. Maybe three more chapters at the most...or maybe four...I'm not too sure. It's been around three years since I started it, and I'm actually shocked that the whole thing is ending.**

**I apologize for the long wait. I really have to learn how to update stories faster. How do some people manage to update everyday? It seems impossible.**

**As always, thank you to all the awesome reviewers!**

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**Thank you so much! All your reviews made me so happy!**

**Now, on with the story!**

* * *

"_Faster, Ryoma, faster!"_

_Ryoma frowned as he dashed towards the ball, knowing that he wouldn't make it. Desperate, he jumped the last few steps, his arm outstretched, missing the ball by centimeters._

_He cursed as he hit the ground. His father shook his head in mock dismay. "Look at you. I've showed this shot to you so many times, and you still can't hit it. Maybe we should just try again tomorrow."_

_Ryoma's frown deepened, and he pushed himself up angrily. "No! Let's play some more!"_

_Nanjiroh smirked. "Are you sure, brat?"_

_Ryoma nodded vigorously, his eyes blazing in determination. "I'll definitely hit it."_

"_Heh…we'll see." The man served, and the rally began._

_Once again, Ryoma lobbed, and Nanjiroh smashed the ball into the court. This time, he didn't run for it. Instead, he stood still, watching his father closely._

_As the ball smashed into his court, he smirked. _

_He had an idea._

_He watched his father the next time, too, and by the third time, he was ready. By looking at his father's stance,he could where the ball would land, and was there before it bounced. In a flash, he'd returned it, and it landed in Nanjiroh's court, rolling backwards._

_He grinned in pure joy. "Mada mada dane, Oyaji."_

* * *

Several days had passed, and Ryoma still didn't know what to decide. He had thought his answer would be easy: _Accept surgery. Play tennis. Become a pro._

But his family, and his friends, were right. It was a huge risk. What if he damaged his nervous system? What would he do then? He'd be in a worse condition than he was in now.

He sighed and shook his head. The best thing was to not think about it. He'd get an answer soon enough. For now, he just wanted to clear his head. So many things had happened in the last few months, he couldn't think straight anymore.

He could see the Seigaku regulars arguing outside. Momoshiro seemed to be shouting, Fuji eyes were open and he was speaking coldly, and Kikumaru was shaking his head wildly, waving his hands around for emphasis. Kaidoh stood off in a corner hissing at Momo's words, Inui spoke up every now and then, and even Oishi got a few words in, but when things got too noisy he resorted to trying to calm everyone down. Only Kawamura and Tezuka did not participate, but they both stood against the walls frowning.

They were all probably arguing about the surgery again. Most of the team (which included Kikumaru and Fuji) had practically forbidden him to accept the surgery. Others, like Momo, thought he should take the risk, since they were sure he'd come out unharmed. The few people who had brains, like Tezuka and Taka, said it was all up to him.

He looked outside and sighed again. He didn't even want to see his team mates, but they insisted on coming every day, and it was, frankly, irritating. He just wanted to be left alone.

Seeing as they weren't planning on coming in any time soon, he resorted to staring out the window.

Minutes passed. Finally the door opened, and dull footsteps echoed in the room. He didn't turn around, and instead waited for the person to speak.

"Echizen-kun?" The voice was soft, almost melodic. Was that Fuji-senpai? No, it was someone else. He turned around curiously, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Yukimura-san…?"

Yukimura smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you, Echizen-kun. It's a pity we still haven't played a match."

Ryoma nodded stiffly. "Er...why are you here?"

"Oh, I was admitted in the hospital for some time, since they thought my illness might be returning. Thankfully, they were only some after effects – nothing too serious. I was released today. It's strange that we both ended up in here at the same time, ne?"

Ryoma nodded again slowly, still looking up at the older boy in surprise. He'd barely spoken to Yukimura before-he'd seen some of his matches, and they'd met a couple of times during team outings, but they hadn't ever said more than a few words to each other. Talking to him now…felt weird.

Yukimura sat at the edge of his bed. "Have you decided about your surgery?"

Ryoma exhaled loudly. Why did everyone have to ask him that first? "No. I don't know yet."

Yukimura frowned. "You don't? I thought your decision would have been obvious. You love tennis, don't you?"

Ryoma nodded again.

"Then what's the problem?"

Ryoma looked at Yukimura in disbelief, but no, those blue eyes seemed honest enough. The older boy wasn't joking. Did he really think it was that simple?

_What about brain damage? Or paralysis? Isn't that a problem?_

"Well, the surgery probably won't be successful. I might end up damaging my brain, and not being able to do _anything _for the rest of my life."

Yukimura raised an eyebrow. "So?"

Ryoma was speechless for a moment.

_Wait a minute._

_What is he saying? Does he think it's okay to be paralyzed for the rest of your life? If I get paralyzed…then what's the point of living? Brain damage is just as bad…what if I forget everything? Or if I can't control my body anymore? _

He looked at Yukimura's frowning face, and turned away, feeling strangely lost.

_He doesn't understand anything, does he?_

* * *

The moment Yukimura had looked at Seigaku's youngest regular, he understood the whole situation. He could see it all in the boy's wide eyes.

Echizen was confused. After all that had happened over the weeks, he had utterly no idea what to do. And what with the Seigaku regulars trying to force him into deciding, he wasn't sure of what he wanted anymore.

He remembered the argument outside the hospital room. It was clear that most of the regulars were trying to convince the boy that tennis wasn't important. Yukimura gritted his teeth. His team had done the exact same thing when _he_ was in the hospital. He knew that the regulars were just worried about Echizen, but they had no right to influence his choices. It was, after all, Echizen's problem.

When Yukimura asked him whether he was planning on accepting the surgery or not, he wasn't surprised at the answer. In fact, he'd expected it.

"I don't know yet."

Now all he had to do was to make him think about what _he _wanted – not what his family and his team wanted him to do.

"You don't? I thought your decision would have been obvious. You love tennis, don't you?"

Echizen nodded slowly.

"Then what's the problem?"

The boy looked down, and thought for a while. When he spoke, his voice was quiet.

"Well, the surgery probably won't be successful. I might end up damaging my brain, and not being able to do _anything _for the rest of my life."

Yukimura frowned inwardly. No, Echizen wasn't just confused. There was another problem here.

"So?" he asked, just as quietly.

Echizen looked up at him in shock, his eyes wide and disbelieving, and his mouth open slightly. He clearly couldn't believe that Yukimura had dared to say what he just said so casually.

Then his expression changed. Those golden eyes shifted, and stared at the ground tiredly, and he wrapped his arms around his knees and hugged them close to his body. He looked…lost. Gone was the confidence he used to hold himself with, gone was the arrogance.

Only then did Yukimura realize that Echizen Ryoma was afraid.

* * *

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments.

Yukimura's mind whirled. He'd been in the situation Echizen was in before. He'd felt that fear, that hopelessness, of losing what you loved the most. He knew how it felt to have all your dreams crushed in one moment, and, just like Echizen, he had been terrified to take the risks to be able to play tennis again.

He had to help Echizen get over it. The boy lived for tennis. If he didn't accept the surgery, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Finally, he came up with a simple plan. It wasn't exactly the best idea, but it was all he could think of.

"I wish I'd been able to see you play against Sanada."

The boy smirked slightly, but he didn't look at Yukimura. "Heh. It was fun."

"Mhmm…It must have been. Sanada is an excellent opponent. Even though he was disappointed that he lost, I could tell that he enjoyed the competition."

There was no reply.

"It's a pity I'll never get to play you in the nationals, right?"

Echizen sat bolt upright, looking at him sharply. "What?"

Yukimura looked at him innocently. "You won't be competing in the nationals, will you? I thought you weren't accepting the surgery."

Something sparked in the boy's head, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense. "The…nationals?"

Yukimura nodded. "Mm. Atobe-san really wanted to play against you as well, as did Akaya. Actually, a lot of people wanted to. They'll all be very disappointed once they hear your decision. But I understand that it can't be helped." He smiled sweetly.

Echizen just stared at him, his fingers trembling slightly. Yukimura continued speaking.

"I'm sure Seigaku will be able to make it to the finals without you, but they have no chance of beating Rikkai Dai. Actually, Hyoutei might be pretty hard, too…and possibly Shitenhouji…hmm, maybe Seigaku doesn't have a chance after all." Yukimura shook his head slightly, still smiling. "Tezuka should have known that his dream wouldn't come true.

"It really is a pity. Seigaku would have been fun to play against. But without you, they won't last long enough."

Echizen held his hands up in front of him and shook his head wildly to stop him. "I haven't refused! I haven't refused the surgery!" Echizen's voice seemed shaky, _broken_, almost inaudible. His eyes were shut tightly, and he looked close to tears.

Yukimura felt a sudden pang of guilt, but he pushed it away. "I can tell that you're not going to accept it." Seeing the boy's look, he continued. "You're too scared to, aren't you?"

For a second, he thought Echizen would snap at him. But the boy took a shaky breath and regained his composure. His expression returned to its normal indifferent state. When he spoke again, his voice was cold. "You don't know anything."

Yukimura almost smirked. "I've been in your position."

Echizen didn't look at him, but he seemed confused. Yukimura's smile widened. "Have you forgotten? I was sick, too. I couldn't play tennis." His smile faded. "All of my dreams, all of my goals…shattered. All of a sudden, there was nothing left for me to do in the world. I was useless.

"But then, the doctors said I could go through surgery. It was, of course, risky. I didn't want to accept at first, since I was scared. But then, I realized how stupid I was."

Yukimura looked straight into Echizen's eyes, determined to make the boy understand. "I realized that tennis was the only thing I had in life. I knew I'd never find anything I loved more. If I refused the surgery, I would regret it my entire life. A life without tennis…" he shook his head. "It wouldn't be worth living.

He leaned in closer to the younger boy, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "I _accepted _the surgery," His voice was quiet, but firm. "I was aware of the risks, but I accepted it, because tennis was, and is, my life. And now, I can achieve my goals.

"Rikkai Dai will win the nationals."

Yukimura stood up swiftly and left the room, leaving Echizen staring at his retreating form with wide eyes.

* * *

Momoshiro came in a few moments later, looking very worried, but Ryoma sent him away. "I'm sorry, Momo-senpai. Please tell the others that I don't want visitors now."

* * *

It was almost midnight. The lights in his hospital room were off. His father was snoring in a cot at the side of the room, since his mother had insisted that they couldn't leave him alone in the hospital.

Most of the patients would have been asleep by now, but Ryoma was wide awake.

"_I realized that tennis was the only thing I had in life. I knew I'd never find anything I loved more."_

Ryoma's eyebrows furrowed, and he absent mindedly tapped a tune on his bed post.

"_If I refused the surgery, I would regret it my entire life."_

It was true, he had been afraid. He was still terrified when he thought of what might happen if the surgery wasn't successful. But…

"_A life without tennis…It wouldn't be worth living."_

Yukimura was right. It was worth taking the risk if it meant he could play tennis again. Sure, his team mates still didn't want him to, but that didn't matter. In the end, the decision was up to him.

He thought of all the matches he'd played; against Fudomine, Hyoutei, Rikkai Dai, Jyosei Shounen, St. Rudolph, Rokkaku…he'd had so much fun in every match. And his father, Tezuka-buchou, Monkey king, Fuji-senpai, Yukimura-san…he still had to win against all of them.

He smiled up at the ceiling. Tennis was…fun. He could never give it up.

After the surgery, it would probably take him a long time to get back in shape. He'd have to go through rehabilitation, too. But it would be worth it.

Also, he thought wryly, it would be fun to give Tamaki all that he deserved.

And…

"_Rikkai Dai will win the nationals."_

He grinned. "Mada mada dane."

* * *

**I am seriously out of touch with this story. Everyone is OOC.**

**Please review! Constructive criticism is well appreciated.  
**


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